Two young boys found dead in an alleged double murder have been pictured enjoying happier times with their mother – who remains in hospital under police guard with self-harm injuries following a suspected suicide attempt.
Russell and Ben Smith, aged nine and 11, were found in a home on Chapman Parade in Faulconbridge just before 12.40pm on Tuesday suffering reported stab wounds.
Their 42-year-old mum Trish Smith was airlifted to Westmead Hospital in a stable condition after a Toll ambulance helicopter landed at nearby Springwood High School. She will be treated for cuts to her wrists.
‘Officers were called to an address on Chapman Parade today regarding the concern for welfare of a woman and two children,’ said Police Commissioner Karen Webb on Tuesday afternoon.
‘Police attended a short time later and discovered the bodies of two children – two boys, one aged nine and one aged 11.
‘A female has been transported to hospital. She is under police guard in hospital and she has been arrested.
‘Police are not looking for any other persons, and a thorough investigation by Strikeforce Stafford has commenced.’
Photos posted on social media show the family beaming with joy as they posed for pictures with Santa, enjoyed family holidays, and explored the wilderness around the Blue Mountains.
Pictured: Trish Smith with Russell and Ben
The family are pictured during happier times. Father Nick Smith is on the right
A major police response was triggered in Faulconbridge after the bodies of two young boys were found in a home on Chapman Parade
The boys’ mother has been rushed to Westmead Hospital in Sydney with knife injuries
Just eight months ago, Google Streetview images captured the children’s Christmas decorations strung up across the front yard of the family’s home.
Retired homicide detective Steve Ticehurst, who lives around the corner from the family, said they had been well-liked members of the close-knit community.
‘They seemed like a really happy family, they have been living here for years, and you would just never pick something like this would happen, he told Daily Mail Australia.
‘They would all come together to the local street Christmas party and appeared every bit the perfect family.
‘The mum used to be known for taking exercise walks around the area in the afternoons and we would always have a chat.
‘There was never any indication anything was wrong. I couldn’t say a bad word about them.’
Another neighbour, who did not want to be named, said the entire community was rocked by the incident.
‘You used to see her walking her dogs around the streets all the time, and out and about with her sons,’ the local resident said.
‘They were lovely young boys.
‘You’d never think something like that could happen here – it’s a quiet community.’
The children’s father Nick Smith, who is separated from their mother and did not live at the same address, called triple-0 when he visited the home and found the boys’ bodies and his former partner injured, reported the Sydney Morning Herald.
The boy’s father (pictured with his family) found the bodies of his sons and his former partner
The mother’s mental health will form part of the police investigation
The bodies of two young boys, aged 9 and 11, were discovered at the home in Faulconbridge (pictured, paramedics at the scene in Sydney’s west)
NSW Police have established a crime scene at the Blue Mountains home and are investigating the circumstances of the deaths.
Police are not believed to have had any previous interactions with family and the woman’s mental health will be a focus of the investigation.
The scene of the incident is just 450m from the Blue Mountains famed Norman Lindsay Gallery.
Residents ferrying children from the local Springwood High and Public Schools were banked up were banked up in both directions as police slowly waved traffic past the home.
Mr Smith’s Mercedes Benz station wagon on Tuesday night remained outside the family’s property – a modest weatherboard bungalow at odds with many of the street’s new homes.
Residents said they had not seen Mr Smith around ‘in a while’ but that he had once joined the children and their mother at local events.
Shocked neighbours described the woman and her sons (pictured) as a really happy family
The boys aged nine and 11 (both pictured) were found dead inside the home on Tuesday
NSW Police said officers from Blue Mountains Police Area Command are investigating the circumstances of the deaths and are being assisted by detectives from State Crime Command’s Homicide Squad
The 42-year-old mother of the two children was airlifted to Westmead Hospital in a stable condition
Emergency crews were called to the property on Chapman Parade about 12.40pm Tuesday
Neighbour Barbara Faith said she would regularly see the two brothers riding on their bikes back from school.
‘They had their helmets on, and they were doing the right thing … I just thought they were lovely kids,’ Ms Faith told the ABC.
She said there was a huge commotion shortly after midday with about 20 emergency vehicles rushing down her street.
‘It’s such a quiet neighbourhood and quiet street you don’t expect those sorts of things,’ she said.
‘It’s just so sad, I can’t believe this could happen anywhere let alone my street.’
